The Best VPNs for South Korea

ExpressVPN has a server location in Seoul, South Korea. Connecting to this will give you a Korean IP address from wherever you are in the world.

ExpressVPN has IP addresses in Korea.

We used ExpressVPN’s Korean server to seamlessly unblock every Korean streaming site we tested it with, including Kakao TV, MBC, SBS Korea, Wavve, TV Chosun, Netflix, and Tving.

Through these channels you can stream popular shows like Saturday Night Life and Hello Counselor. We also found that ExpressVPN worked flawlessly with Korean Netflix.

We used ExpressVPN’s browser extension and app to access sites like Wavve.

However, going forward we’d like to see ExpressVPN add more Korea servers in different locations to avoid congestion and better serve those who want to connect into Korea.

This would improve the gaming experience even further. That said, ExpressVPN is still the best VPN for gaming in Korea, so you can use it to play games like PUBG.

Furthermore, the exact number of servers ExpressVPN maintains in Seoul is undisclosed, so it’s impossible to compare the quantity to rival VPNs.

We accessed all Korean streaming sites with ExpressVPN, including Kakao TV.

ExpressVPN can be used on every single device, with easy-to-use custom apps available for macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android – all of which have the option to change the language settings to Korean.

It’s also one of the only VPNs with a router app, making it one of the best VPNs to use on multiple devices simultaneously.

If you want to watch Korean shows on large screen devices, ExpressVPN also has well-designed apps for Fire TV and Android TV. You can connect to a Korean server in the exact same way as ExpressVPN’s desktop and mobile apps.

We’ve also tested ExpressVPN’s Chrome and Firefox extensions, and they work in the same way as the fully-encrypted VPN apps. These are useful if you need to quickly change your real IP address to a Korean one and unblock content via your web browser.

Unfortunately, ExpressVPN’s Smart DNS solution Media Streamer does not work to access Korean sites: it only works to access US services and a select few British streaming services.

ExpressVPN delivers very fast speeds connecting into Korea, including from countries as far away as the US and India. Our ExpressVPN speed tests show that its average long-distance download speed is 85Mbps, with an overall speed rating of 9.7/10. This means that you’ll be able to stream and even game despite potentially thousands of miles of distance.

ExpressVPN passed all of our security checks, too. It uses the best available encryption technology to secure your connection (AES-256), and has even developed its own security protocol to do this: Lightway.

ExpressVPN’s best price deal is $6.67 per month, which is more expensive than most competing services.

We think this level of streaming, speed, and security performance is worth the price, which is why it’s our 1 VPN overall and for Korea. However, CyberGhost might be more appealing if you’re on a budget.

If you want to have a go using ExpressVPN before committing anything, you can try ExpressVPN via its seven-day free trial on mobile devices.

You can also use it across all devices without restrictions for free for a month by asking for a refund within 30-days of purchasing a subscription.

In our tests, CyberGhost successfully accessed 85% of Korean streaming sites, including:

• Kakao TV
• MBC
• SBS
• Wavve
• TV Chosun
• Tving

Despite working to unblock the majority of sites we tested it with, CyberGhost does not have dedicated streaming servers for Korean sites and it still does not access Netflix Korea. You should stick to ExpressVPN if you want to watch Korean Netflix.

We used CyberGhost to stream live TV on SBS Korea.

You can stream content from these platforms on all of CyberGhost’s apps, including its Fire TV and Android TV apps for TV-based devices.

However, CyberGhost falls behind ExpressVPN’s level of compatibility because it doesn’t have a router app. You have to install CyberGhost on a router if you want to stream Korean shows on devices that aren’t compatible with VPNs, like your Xbox or PlayStation.

Like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost’s Smart DNS has no configurations for Korean streaming. It is only able to access US, Japanese, and European streaming sites.

CyberGhost has the most South Korean servers of any VPN, with 24 servers in Seoul.

However, these Korean servers are absent from CyberGhost’s browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. This is unfortunate as extensions offer a quick way to change your IP address within your current browser window.

CyberGhost has servers in Seoul.

CyberGhost’s extensions haven’t been updated in a while either, so we suggest sticking to CyberGhost’s apps.

Connecting into South Korea from abroad, CyberGhost delivers an average download speed of 81Mbps. This is behind ExpressVPN’s performance, but it’s still fast enough to stream Korean shows buffer-free from as far away as North America or Europe.

You cannot use CyberGhost for free indefinitely like TunnelBear Free, but it does offer a free trial that enables you to access Korean streaming sites free of charge. The free trials on offer from CyberGhost include:

• 1-day free trial on macOS and Windows devices
• 7-day free trial on iOS
• 3-day free trial on Android

Alongside its free trials, CyberGhost offers one of the longest refund guarantees of any VPN – 45 days. That’s well over a month of free access to Korean IP addresses.

If you are able to purchase a subscription, CyberGhost is one of the cheapest VPNs available. It only costs $2.03 per month, giving it a price and value rating of 9.4/10.

TunnelBear Free has a VPN server in Seoul which allows you to access the Korean internet for free.

The big drawback is that TunnelBear Free is heavily restricted by a 500MB per month data cap. This will limit the amount of Korean streaming you can do to around 30 minutes at Full HD. For light web browsing, you should be able to get around 10 hours.

On the positive side, unlike free VPNs like Windscribe Free, TunnelBear’s free data accumulates if it goes unused. It does not refresh from scratch each month. In the screenshot below, you can see that we’ve accumulated over 10GB of free TunnelBear data.

Our free TunnelBear data has accumulated to over 10GB.

TunnelBear Free’s speeds after connecting into Korea are very fast – our tests show that it’s actually faster than the paid version. On average you can expect download speeds of 85Mbps.

This is only 15% slower than our normal internet connection, despite thousands of miles of distance between our physical location and South Korea.

TunnelBear Free unblocked 57% of the streaming sites we tested it with. Unfortunately, popular sites like Korean Netflix and Wavve detected TunnelBear and they remained blocked.

Despite the streaming limitations presented by detection and a harsh data cap, TunnelBear Free is still able to unblock Kakao TV, TV Chosun, and SBS Korea. It also remains a useful VPN for light browsing of the Korean web from overseas.

TunnelBear Free works with most Korean streaming sites, including TV Chosun.

Unlike with CyberGhost, TunnelBear’s free browser extension has a Korean server and makes for an even quicker way to get a Korean IP address.

TunnelBear Free is identical to the paid version with the exception of the data cap. That means you get the same level of security, including best-in-class AES-256 cipher.

TunnelBear has fun and well-designed apps, but it’s only available on the most popular desktop and mobile devices, including macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android. It has no apps for Fire TV, Android TV, or Apple TV, and there is no way to manually set up a VPN on your router. For device range and ease-of-use, both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are a lot better.

Furthermore, TunnelBear is behind when it comes to customer support. For any sort of assistance or answers, you have to be a subscriber and, even then, live chat is not available.